When I get overwhelmed, I tend to freeze up and deal with none of the things I should be dealing with. I really need to get something off my plate soon but instead I seem to be heaping more things on top of it. This story is like the ONE THING that is going alright and I can handle. I wish I had more than 14 chapters left to post because once I'm done with it I have to deal with my real life problems…rip.

Primrose

I am trying to be optimistic, but so far, Hiron's idea seems really, really bad.

I'm not the only one who's dubious. Maris is giving him the same look one might give spoiled fish. Jewel is a little more practical- nothing new there. "Hiron, I just don't see how that's going to work."

He looks frustrated- nothing new about that either, but it's kind of hard to tell in the dim middle-of-the-night lighting. He just looks like a blob really, but once in a while his glasses reflect off something and I can see him. "Alright. I'll start from the beginning."

Maris and Rye groan. Hiron has already started from the beginning several times.

"Alright, so we're going to take these mines." He gestures to the pile at his feet. There are about a dozen of them. "I've fixed them, but they're not active yet- they're on a timer. So we have one hour to place them as we see fit, the deeper in the cave system the better, and then all we have to do is lure the rest of the tributes over here. KABOOM!"

I don't know if it's just the glint of his glasses, but he really looks mad now.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Maris huffs. "How are we going to lure anyone over the mines without us getting kaboomed? And there's no way the mines would go off in the cave from someone running over top of them!"

"They absolutely would!" Hiron insists. "I don't have the means to test it, but they would! Trust me!"

"Why should we trust you?" she snarls.

"Because I'm right!"

I'm wavering. I want to trust Hiron; I really do. But for once, Maris is making sense, and something about this plan doesn't sound quite right. "Hiron, are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" He sounds so sincere, almost pleading. "This is the way to do it. I promise."

I want to believe him. And the idea of taking out the whole other pack at one time is undeniably appealing, even if it makes me a little sick to my stomach. I look down at the mines and then back at Hiron. He's staring right at me, hazel eyes ablaze. Something stirs in me and realize he's right. No one can look like that and not be right.

"Let's try it," I say, even as my voice shakes. "We'll try it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Do you want a list?" Maris asks sarcastically. As if she ever takes any other tone.

Rye is with me, automatically. Jewel agrees eventually, her eyes narrowed and calculated, and Hiron begins to explain his plan. "Everybody take two or three. Rye, go left. Maris and Jewel, go right. Prim and I'll take the center, the bear's den."

It sounds perfectly reasonable to me, but Maris turns up her nose. "I'm not going with her," she declares, scoffing at Jewel specifically. "I'll go by myself. You dorks go together."

"Whatever," says Rye, although I'm certain he prefers going with Jewel to going alone. That has not escaped my notice.

I bite my lip. Once again, we are being split up. By the time I get up the courage to say something, though, Hiron has already moved on to the next phase of the plan. I chew on my lip nervously as the reality of the stakes sets in. I know I've been in danger ever since I set foot in the arena. But this seems different, really different.

"…and we'll all meet just outside the cave, alright?" Hiron finishes. "Everybody got that?"

Maris grunts in response. Jewel and Rye nod tersely. I swallow hard and try to give the slightest indication that I understand. It's all I'm capable of right now.

"Oh, enough talk," Maris snaps. She tucks a couple mines under her arm- I wince even though I know they're inactive- and storms into the cave. "Bye!"

My heart pounds. No one else seems to react, other than taking a couple mines for themselves. Rye looks me dead in the eye and my stomach squeezes. I know perfectly well this could be the last time we see each other.

But we have to go.

I know we have to go.

"I'll see you soon," I tell him, hoping it's true.

Rye just gives me a nod and says, "Watch your back." I can't help the shiver that runs down my spine, but I try to brush it off. They go their separate way and we go ours.

"That was kind of rude, don't you think?" Hiron asks conversationally. "I mean, I guess it's smart to watch your back. But I'm not going to hurt you."

"That sounds like something someone who's going to hurt me would say."

"You got me there."

I don't know how he keeps such good humor. Maybe it's just nervous energy- I know that's coming off me in waves. It's so intense I have to look away, staring down at the disk-shaped mines in my arms. There's a blinking orange light on all of them, proving that Hiron has reprogrammed them in some way. I just hope that he knows what he's doing. I know he believes he does, but that's of little comfort to me.

At least it's not pitch dark in the cave system. At first, I don't understand why it isn't, but since we're not going at a breakneck pace this time, I'm able to look around. There's this moss in every corner that produces a weird, yellowish glow. It's certainly not natural and I find it kind of gross, but I'm grateful all the same.

Hiron keeps us at a brisk walk. I have to jog to keep up. We don't talk anymore. We're just doing our jobs and I know something is wrong but I can't quite place it. Part of me wants to run. Part of me is desperate to stay.

We reach the bear's den. Again, the smell assaults me, and again, I do not complain. Bigger things, right? Hiron sets one of his mines down gently at the farthest point of the cavern and backs away. "One right at the entrance, Prim."

I place it, hopefully to his satisfaction, with my heart pounding. I know it's not right to be so scared when this is all part of the plan. Hiron's plan. The plan that doesn't make any sense. I try to push those thoughts aside with little success.

We place all the mines at Hiron's discretion, getting antsier with every passing minute. He seems to have a very clear idea of how it's supposed to be and I have no idea. I guess that sums up our entire relationship so far, but it just serves to make me more anxious.

"Alright, let's go," he declares as soon as the last bomb is placed in its little nook. "We don't want the others to beat us back to the surface, do we?"

"No?" I guess, personally not seeing why it matters but notably eager to get out of here. He's leaving regardless what I say, and the feeling of creepiness begins to overwhelm me, so I start after him. I might be imagining it, but it feels like we're being watched.

Back through the chambers. The moss seems even grosser this time around, but of course there's no time to comment on it. My heart is in my throat, and I strain my ears for anyone else's footsteps. Even the smallest noise sounds like the end of the world. I thought I had gotten used to being in the cave, but not completely, I guess.

Our boots slap on the stone floor. The shiny liner of my coat is noisy too, and the ragged beat of my breath. I don't know if I'm relieved or not when we first meet Rye and Jewel- they just look as frightened as I feel. What's going on? None of us have any idea.

"Maris?" asks Hiron.

"No sign of her," says Jewel, and her face is grim.

Luckily, Maris is waiting for us just outside of the cave, as planned. She has this look on her face that screams "I told you so" and she follows it up with a similar statement, although I'm too busy gulping fresh air to listen. It's such a relief to be out in the moonlight that I don't care if she's being mean.

My relief doesn't last long. A gust of wind blasts through the clearing, nearly knocking me off my feet, and tiny snowflakes pelt my uncovered face. It's not a blizzard yet, but it promises to be, and I suddenly wish we hadn't rigged our only shelter with bombs.

"What now, genius?" Maris snarls. She's hunched over like she's cold, and I imagine she is- even with our thick down coats, Maris has, like, zero percent body fat. Spite can only keep her so warm, and I'm pretty sure the temperature has decreased by twenty degrees since I was last outside.

"Welllll…." Hiron wheedles. He's cut off by the only thing that could possibly be worse than the howling wind: a howling wolf. "Oh no."

"Oh no?" Jewel repeats, nearly screeching, although the wind mostly drowns it out. "The wolves are back and it's about to storm and we just rigged our hiding place with bombs, and you hit us with oh no?"

"Well, uh, I might have lied a bit earlier." Hiron has a very charming smile, but I don't know if it'll get him out of this one. "About, uh, the mines?"

"I'm going to kill you, Hiron," Rye announces.

Hiron scrambles to correct him. "No, no, hear me out." We have all spent quite a bit of time hearing Hiron out lately. "They are on a timer. I was telling the truth about that! But what I said, about how once the timer goes off, they become pressure-activated, that's not true."

I bury my face in my hands.

"What happens when the timer goes off, Hiron?" Maris snarls.

"Oh," says Hiron. "They blow up."

"WHAT?!" we all shriek, but now we have no choice but to go along with him. He gestures away from the mouth of the cave- which is, unfortunately, towards the wolves- and we all jog after him. I'm replaying the whole misadventure in my head, trying to remember exactly how long ago he had said we had one hour to go. But if he was lying about the explosion, who's to say he was telling the truth about anything else?

The wind makes it hard to hear anything, in addition to making it certain we'll freeze to death if we stay out here very long. But what option do we have, other than following Hiron's lead while Maris curses his name creatively? He got us into this- that means he's the only one with a chance at getting us out of it.

"Hiron," I pant. Running through knee-deep snow takes a lot out of me, especially when the wind pushes back at me with every step. "Why? Why did you lie about the bombs?"

Even under these dire circumstances, he looks back at me with that familiar winning smile. Dawn is just starting to break; I can see more than the outline of him now. "You know why."

"Do I?!"

"Well, you will in a minute," he reasons, tapping his wrist. "Provided my countdown is accurate."

One minute left, huh?

"You're fucking crazy," Maris snarls. She's one to talk, but in this case, I think she might be onto something.

But at the same time, Hiron is right here with us, like he promised. It can't be a trap, unless his intention is to take himself out as well. And I don't think he's that crazy.

The wind is too loud- I see the wolves before I hear them. Snow-white and red-eyed, they seem to flood out of the trees. There's at least a dozen of them, enough to surround us. They tread lightly and fan out slowly, taking their time. They don't need to rush- they know we're nowhere near the bear's den this time. There's nowhere for us to run.

We don't even have our weapons, as feeble protection as that would be. Hiron had us leave in too much of a hurry for us to grab them, even Maris, who was probably born with a blunt instrument in her hand. Based on her facial expression, it looks like she might throw herself at the wolves because that's just the kind of person she is, but I don't see how that would do us any good.

As usual, Jewel is the only one with her wits about her. "Climb a tree!" she orders, breaking away from the group towards the nearest pine. As soon as we start to move, the wolves spring into action too. I guess they were just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I'm no good at climbing trees, but in the end, it doesn't matter. I never even reach the first branch, nor do the wolves' teeth ever clamp around my ankles. The explosion hits all of us first, one mine after another ripping the ground apart. The earth shakes and my ears ring, but I can't help turning around and watching it. Orange flames crackle amidst the dirt and rock flying every which way. What's in here that could even burn? I don't know. It doesn't matter. For better or for worse, Hiron's plan is working.

I'm still trying to figure out what he could possibly gain from this when the pieces of the arena start falling, and this time it's Rye with the remaining shred of common sense. "RUN!"

Sorry for so many short chapters in a row…I really have no excuse though. Excited for a change of setting though!

Liz